Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia can be regarded as a disorder of the brain that influences the behavior and thinking of a person and how he perceives the world. People suffering from this disorder possess a modified view of the reality which is different from the original one. A schizophrenic sees or hears things that don’t have existence, converse in a weird and puzzled way; deem that people try to hurt them, or sense they are being monitored persistently.

Causes

Causes of Schizophrenia can be divided into three:

Genetic Causes: People who have Schizophrenics in immediate family are more likely to inherit this disorder as opposed to regular people. But it is not certain that this disorder is only inheritance and not by destiny.

Environmental Causes: The environmental factors causing Schizophrenia is stress, moreover during pregnancy or later during development. Increased level of stress causes fluctuation in the production of hormone cortisol resulting in Schizophrenia.

Irregular brain structure: Abnormalities in the brain such as swollen brain ventricles or low activity in the front part of the brain leads to this disorder.

Symptoms

Symptoms of Schizophrenia include:

Delusions

Hallucinations

Thought disorder

Lack of motivation

Poor expression of emotions

Social withdrawal

Unaware of illness

Thinking difficulties

Tests:

Schizophrenia is detected by running the following tests:

Psychiatric evaluation- A series of questions to assess the psychiatric history and mental inabilities is done by the doctors.

Medical history and exam- A complete physical exam is done to check for medical issues in the body contributing to Schizophrenia.

Lab tests- A sample of blood and urine are taken to determine Schizophrenia since there are no such particular tests to determine this disorder. In addition to this, MRI or CT scan is also done.

In addition to the above, hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and abnormal behavior persisting more than 30 days also play a pivotal role in determining this disease.

Treatment

Treatment for this disorder includes antipsychotic medicines.

Prognosis

Prognosis for this disorder is patient’s family and professional care-takers. Treatment can be taken at the hospital or at the home after the medications.

Prevention

By far, there is no sure prevention for Schizophrenia. Nevertheless, early detection of symptoms may eliminate serious complications.

Treatment cost

The treatment cost of Schizophrenia depends on the stage at which it has been diagnosed and varies from hospital to hospital.